Job was God’s Servant

Well, hello again. Like I said earlier, I am Ben Jones. I'm an elder here at Lowertown. My wife Emily and I and our daughter Sophie have been attending Lowertown since we started about eight years ago. And you're hearing it here. We have another one on the way, due January 11th last week. Oh, I should say I don't preach often. I preach sometimes. Brian loves to preach. He loves to preach, but it's good to give him a break sometimes. It also just so happens that he's in Chicago right now, I think driving back right now. Last week he showed us that love is greater than duty as a motivation for obedience. And this week we are going to continue to talk about obedience. We're in this series that we're calling Cloud of Witnesses, where we look at figures in the Bible, perhaps ones you're not familiar with, and see how they point us to Jesus and what a life of faith looks like. Now, as I was preparing for this, I want to let you know that my heart was in kind of this greater context around Hebrews 12 where we get the verses that give us this phrase. In particular, chapter 10, there's this phrase that might be familiar to you where it says, let us encourage one another and stir up each other toward love and good deeds. And that's my heart. Today it's going to be, like I say, about obedience. And I promise I'm not trying to bring a hammer, but I'm just trying to stir you up. It won't be that intense. So today we're going to be looking at Job actually, and specifically job, chapter 29. I think as we get into it in a bit here, it's going to be a little unfamiliar with you. Perhaps you think Job and then you think suffering and endurance and that's it. Maybe it's also God's majesty, how he is above what we think is best and what he thinks is best as a fact. But before we get to that again, I was rereading Hebrews and kind of the surrounding passages and I was struck by some things. So in Hebrews 11 we see these kinds of phrases kind of cherry picking a little bit. So Hebrews 11:4, by faith Abel brought God a better offering. Verse 7, by faith Noah in holy fear built an ark. Verse 8, by faith Abraham obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Verse 23, by faith Moses parents hid him. And what we can see here is this pattern of by faith a person acted. And I am kind of cherry picking, to be honest. There's sort of a larger context, of a wider spectrum. Sometimes you see people mentioned where they're really just kind of waiting and trusting God. Sometimes they're receiving something, but in other situations like these, at least they are acting on faith and in trust. And as you keep reading in Hebrews, these people were awaiting a new kingdom. The phrase used in this passage is a city built on a foundation. They're waiting for that all the way back to Abel. So then we get to kind of these anchor verses for the series, Hebrews 12:1 3. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him. He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. So for us, compared to those people mentioned in chapter 11, now that we do have Christ, the author of Hebrews is saying all the more, walk in faith now that we do have Christ. And then the author continues, of course, into chapter 13, verses 7, and then jumping to 16, remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of the way, of their way of life, and imitate their faith. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. So the author's saying to the audience of this letter, remember apostles, patriarchs that he previously mentioned, that they previously mentioned men and women who are heroes of the faith. And he's telling they the author is telling us to have faith and do good. But there's even more. So then at the end of chapter 13, there's this benediction to kind of repeat both these things. So verse 20. Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant, brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And may it be. Okay, let's talk Job. So first, of course, we need to start with context, some fast facts about the Book of Job. We don't know as a fact when Job is supposed to have taken place. It is likely that it was during Abraham's time before Moses. The reason we would think that is Job's wealth mentioned in chapters one and two is measured in livestock, not necessarily actual, like bullion, gold. He also acts as a priest for his family, which, you know, post Moses would have gotten him killed. This is one big book of dialogue, which makes it pretty unique. You know, something similar might be the Song of Solomon, but really that's poetry. Whereas this is just back and forth, different people talking, including Job, including God, as well as some bad friends. It is likely that Job was part of an important city, which we'll kind of see later on why that might be relevant. He mentions gates, and gates are only placed in walls, and walls are only placed around an important city. And then lastly, we can really look at this book as a trial, and not necessarily a trial for Job, but really a trial for God, where Job is challenging what it is that God is doing with his life. And then famous clap back from God at the end, but we won't necessarily be getting into that. And then another fun fact, you know, for so much talking about God, him being on trial, we have 75%, about three quarters of the uses of the word shaddai, which is translated as almighty, which I think, you know, might just get you gears turning about how that fits into the book of Job, that very often God is called the Almighty. Okay, so why Job? Here's what we see in this. This is really what God sees about Job. And this is just in the beginning. One, one, Job was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil. Verse 8. Have you considered my servant Job? This God talking, there is no one on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. 2, 3. Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. So three times in this first act we see this phrase, this repeated phrase, blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And again, maybe you've only thought of Job as this character that suffers and endures. And that's like a lesson for us, which is true. But this is a particular thing that we're going to be keen on on this morning, that he was this upright man. And I want you to really imagine what this is like. So, you know, second pair of verses, Yahweh is saying before the heavenly host, right? Look at my guy, look at Job. He is blameless and upright. And I might have your ears tingle a little bit to consider Jesus's baptism when he Comes out of the water. And a voice from heaven says, this is my beloved Son. Son in whom I am well pleased. We're going to call those things out a few times this morning. Okay? So that's what Job. Sorry, What God says about Job. Now let's look at what Job himself says. So we're going to be in job 29, and we are going to read it all. So, giddy up. Job continued his discourse. How I long for the months gone by. For the days when God watched over me. When his lamp shone on my head. And by his light I walked through darkness. Oh, for the days when I was in my prime. When God's intimate friendship blessed my house. When the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me. When my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil. When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square, the young men saw me and stepped aside, and the old men rose to their feet. The chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands. The voice of the nobles were hushed and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. Whoever heard me spoke well of me. And those who saw me commended me. Because I rescued the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to assist them. The one who is dying blessed me. I made the widow's heart sing. I put on righteousness as my clothing. Justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy. I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth. I thought, I will die in my own house. My days as numerous as the grains of sand. My roots will reach to the water and the dew will lie all night on my branches. My glory will not fade. The bow will ever be new in my hand. People listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel. After I had spoken, they spoke no more. My words fell gently on their ears. They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain. When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it. The light of my face was precious to them. I chose the way for them and sat as their chief. I dwelt as a king among his troops. I was like one who comforts mourners. Now, I don't want you to hear some braggadocious dude. This is honesty, you know. This isn't something Job is saying every chapter. Throughout this dialogue, but it is just everything coming to a head for him. And in that last verse in particular, I want to call out that his kingliness comes from his service. It's not that he is demanding this, but because he is a comforter, he is looked at as a king. And with that idea, his kingliness comes from his service. We can ding, ding, ding, hear the little Jesus bell go off, right? So what do we see? What do we see in Job? There are going to be four things. He earned a place and status in his community. Looking at verse eight and nine here, the young men saw me and stepped aside, and the old men rose to their feet. The chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands. Now, spoiler alert, I'm going to be calling us to live like Job, but I'm not necessarily saying that we should all become pillars of the community, featured in the Pioneer Press, you know, things like that. But this is just good to pull out here. And a special note, that he isn't, you know, de facto made this essentially a chief man. Really. The other chief men are stepping aside for him, right? Or that's the young men, I guess. And it's not as though he's the oldest in the community to sort of, again, de facto sort of be given that place, but he has earned it. So how did he earn this place? He used what God had given him. Verses 11 through 13. Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to assist them. The one who was dying blessed me. I made the widow's heart sing. Now, it wasn't knowledge exactly, you know, it wasn't being the most informed person that we see here, but perhaps instead he had this wisdom that came from a life in service and that gave him the place in community. Now, we read these verses and we kind of have to ask, is this the right hand talking to the left hand? You know, as Jesus tells us not to do? Maybe Job is too proud for us Midwesterners, and this kind of makes us uncomfortable. The way I see it is him simply recounting a life that gives power and gives us a picture to what really Jesus charges us with in Matthew 5:16, where he says, let your good works shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Okay, he was a light in dark times. And here we're going to go back to chapter 24 for some more context. In verses 2 and 3, and then 13 and 14. There are those who move boundary stones. They pasture flocks, they have stolen. They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge. There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. When daylight is gone, the murderer rise up, kills the poor and needy, and in the night steals forth like a thief. And this is just a reminder that it's not like Job lived in some kind of utopia. This was. The good works he did were likely difficult. He was not solving all the problems. And, you know, this is totally conjecture, but I would imagine there wasn't likely forward progress, always not consistent forward progress, which is a difficult thing. And I think that does show an endurance from Job that we see throughout the book. Okay. And then lastly, he invested in shalom. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the land. I was father to the needy. I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth. That's 15, 17. And if you're not familiar with the word shalom, shalom most literally means peace. But throughout the Bible, it really represents. It's a word that represents God's good design for our lives and the world. And it's what obedience to God and his commandments produces in the world. It's putting things right and whole that really ultimately we have to wait, just as Hebrews describes, for a city built on a foundation, God's new kingdom through Jesus. But even here and now, we are to invest in realizing that this is, as we like to say, moving against the kingdom of darkness, going in and trashing the joint, as we like to say, at hope. But again, in these verses from Job, this is stuff that is not easy. It's not quick. Says, like in the middle there in verse 16, I took up the case of the stranger, and imagine what that would entail. You got to get to know the stranger, got to get to know the intricacies of their problems. Maybe this is a stranger fleeing somewhere into Job City. Maybe it's just someone he doesn't know in his city. Maybe someone on the margin. Somehow they know to go to Job, and Job is willing to step into the muck with them. Okay, so now we're going to ask, who do we see in Job? And I promise this is an easy question. At the end of Job 42:8, God charges Job's bad buddies to seek out Job and have him intercede for them. This is what it says. So now this is God talking. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has. So again, ding, ding, ding, the Jesus bell. Jesus as our perfect priest. So let's go look at that again in Hebrews, Hebrews 10, 12, 14. This is our better priest. When this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. For by one sacrifice He, Jesus has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So we see here that again, Jesus is this better priest and the perfect sacrifice, the perfect lamb who pays for all sins that we wouldn't have to continue to sacrifice. And further into chapter 10, it said that it is the Spirit who is then working in our hearts and minds to make us holy in this world, as it says there in verse 14, as we're being made holy. And then again, I want to jump back, jump back to Hebrews 13. As we looked at in the beginning, remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you, consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. And really, I want to put Jesus in this category, in there, in verse seven, in that category of leader. Remember Christ. His ministry on earth really looked a lot like Job's. He touched the untouchable, healing lepers. He reached out to the marginalized, the woman bleeding, a widow. And he reached out to the hurting father of a sick child, centurion, all manner of people. And Christ is the founder and perfecter of our faith. He started a new thing in the in this world, in us, by his resurrection. And that new life lets us. That new life in us lets us do good. And this good pleases God. Job was doing it. And God himself bears witness to that. Okay, so I'm going to have two more brief references here to then drive home this point of God's stance on Job's behavior. Jeremiah 9:24. But let the one who boasts boast about this, that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth. For in these I delight. This tells us something about what is in Yahweh's heart. And in Isaiah 1:17, learn to do right, seek justice, defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the Fatherless plead the case of the widow. And I think Job pursued these things, and that is what pleased God. So let me recap what we then saw in Job. He earned a place and status in his community. He used what God had given him. He was a light in dark times, and he invested in Shalom. So how might we do these things as a church, as individuals? Well, for one, like I said, I'm not trying to bring a hammer. I do think we do this. And I just have to say, you guys do encourage me. You know, over this past year, we've been trying to partner with Little Hopes Hospitality Center. I've been seeing some regular faces at both those things. It's also worth mentioning that with just this month, this first month of our fiscal year, it really looks like our giving is in a healthier spot. And that really encourages me. You know, not that necessarily money, to us, the church is precisely this. Right. But through the chain of events that it takes, you know, it keeps Brian in a stable place, things like that, it helps us function together to do good works. So thank you for that. And again, we don't have to become pillars of our community, exactly, but we do have opportunities for good. So just this week, again, the fall Closet Refresh. This event where Little Hopes will give new clothes, not donated stuff, but new clothes, kind of some essential stuff, to all members of the group. Little Hopes Group. We have back school sponsors going on right now. You know, last I saw the other day, there were probably 11 or so sponsored and then nine more that need sponsors as well as some on a wait list. So please check Facebook for that or you can talk to me about it. And then again this coming weekend, on next Sunday, they need help tearing down. Then with the hospitality center again, the new arrivals program is still happening. International students coming in, needing transportation from the airport. And then Sarah let me know too, that they're collecting things for sort of a move in giveaway. You know, things like soap, maybe some small towels, things like that that you wouldn't want to schlep on a plane. That event will be happening in September, but they're collecting stuff now. And I guess I'd just ask you, where else can you be? Salt and light. But I want to call out the growing need that these two groups really do address. I'm sure all of us are feeling a bit of a squeeze on our monthly cash flow. Prices are rising. And even with some of it perhaps not being facts, some of it is sort of perception about, you know, the economy, things like that, I would really challenge you to think about what income you have and then what kind of a typical member at Little Hopes has. Many of these people are on WIC and SNAP that are really struggling to make ends meet, Social Security, things like that. Whereas as far as I know, not many of us have something like that. Then with the hospitality center. Again, fact or perception? I think immigrants are feeling a bit of a hostility right now. And even for students with kind of confusion about how visas are working or are going to work, their dreams and ambitions are just being cast aside. So being a smiling face, a warmth for that people like that is important and shows Christ. Okay, let's lay in the plane here. In gospel application, do you see anything extra to share in your life or do you feel like you are at your limit, you got nothing else? Will you pray for and pursue opportunities to be salt and light? And I'd ask you to cultivate this new life that Christ began in you to remind ourselves of that work that Christ has done for us. We're going to be taking communion now. You don't have to be a member of lowertown or any church, but we ask that you be a believer that you bent the knee to King Jesus and you know what he's done for your sake. We have a gluten free option here on this side. Otherwise we're going to take some time. We're going to have two songs. I encourage you to reflect and just stand whenever you'd like to sing with us. I'll pray as the worship team comes back up. God, would you fill us with vision for how we might use what you've given us for your glory? Whether it is money or muscle, our minds or our mouths, help us to see what really do have that we might share it. Would you then make a ripple in our communities and turn heads that others would see your very own light in us and be drawn in? Amen.